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Since Zoroark's Illusion is based on the Pokemon behind it in the team lineup, would that mean that in double and triple battles Zoroark would illusion as its partner if it was first in line? (i.e: you would see two Gengars, the first being Zoroark's Illusion?)

If so:

Double, Triple Battle Options: Doubles and Tripple Battles would actually spell trouble for Illusion. Unless Zoroak is called in to the last place on the field, it will be masquerading as one of its partners behind it. Having two of the same Pokemon on the same field is a huge hint for your opponent that you are using Zoroark. In short, unless you want to fight with out the help of Illusion, keep the monster fox in the single battles scene.

I'm not good at making sets so bare with me.
Basically, it charges up with Calm Mind while mind-screwing enemies. Once it's back to being Zoroark or you've charged up enough, use any special attack you see fit. It has type coverage, defense against its weakness and good SPA in the first place.

Firstly, it would be worth noting that with this set, you would have to breed a Raticate with Counter first to then breed with a Zoroark for the moves Sucker Punch and Counter. Night Slash is the primary move which allows you to basically land an attack. Focus Sash gives Zoroark the chance to use Counter despite its weak defences and hopefully knock out a pokemon and Sucker Punch is there to deal damage to any revenge-killer. Aerial Ace is mainly there to fill in the moveslot but it can also KO things like Heracross and slow Fighting types which pose a threat.

To counter a special-based Zoroak, I would recommend Special Walls such as Blissey, Snorlax or even Mantine. Lucario has almost nothing to fear as it can withstand Flying moves and easily OHKO with an Aura Sphere or Close Combat. Aianto should also receive a mention here as it outruns Zoroark and can deal a powerful blow from X-Sissor.

for easier breeding why not just use smeargle? it can get any egg moves you need for ground group pokes

Just a few ideas for Illusioners.
*Any FEAR Pokemon, such as Rattata or Archen.
*A good wall like Shuckle or Bronzong.
*Any good physical attacker, such as Conkeldurr.

With FEAR, the opponent's lead will be switched with a Ghost-type, at which point you release a Dark-type move such as Dark Pulse.
Your opponent won't expect a hard special attack from a wall or a Physical
attacker.

Some viable special options are Dark Pulse, Focus blast, Shadow Ball, and Flamethrower. Give it Counter and a Focus sash also, to kill Physical sweepers.

With FEAR, the opponent's lead will be switched with a Ghost-type, at which point you release a Dark-type move such as Dark Pulse.
Your opponent won't expect a hard special attack from a wall or a Physical
attacker.

except illusion doesn't copy the level of the pokemon, a level 100 rattata would be obviously zoroark

Pretty much your standard Zoroark. Illusion is key here. The best Illusion partners are Ghost types due to their resistance to Bug and their immunity to Fighting. Jellicent/Burungeru is probably the best partner out of the fifth gen Pokemon because his biggest fifth gen counter is Ferrothorn/Nattorei, which is destroyed by Flamethrower. Reuniclus is also a good partner.

Basically, send in Zoroark Illusioned as someone who is strong against your opponent and Calm Mind on the switch (Reuniclus is good here because Calm Mind is very common on Reuniclus and he scares away any fighting types). Then destroy and Dark types with Focus Blast, Ghost types with Dark Pulse, and Bug Types with Flamethrower. Sucker Punch can be used instead (in that case put 4 EVs into Att), but you lose coverage.

Also, Dark Pulse is generally better than Night Burst, because it doesn't miss and there is a chance for Flinch, which is great.

Zoroark is basically a one trick pony. There are few partners that actually share common movepools with Zoroark that actually help Zoroark survive due to their typing (ie. Houndoom has a similar movepool but its typing doesn't protect Zoroark). Zoroark is used mainly to take down one, maybe two, Pokemon and then faint.

all the sets i had in mind have been posted but you could use an attacking lead while using illusion to be a Magic Mirror Espeon so your opponent won't set up entry hazards whith risk of them being bounced back to him.

"And the salt in my wounds isn't burning anymore than it used to. It's not that I don't feel the pain, it's just I'm not afraid of hurting anymore. "- Paramore<3

Pretend it's a wall, and if it looks like a special wall, "Force out" a special attacker. If it's a "Physical wall", "force out" a physical sweeper. If it's modest, use agility, and if it's timid, use nasty plot.

Originally Posted by Beastiken9

Zoroark@life orb
modest
substitute
nasty plot
focus blast
night burst/dark pulse
252sp atk 252spd
basically, set up a sub on the fooled opponent, then proceed to nasty plot. Focus blast and dark pulse have pretty good coverage. Leftovers maybe better than life orb for this set because of the substitute.

What's the point of a modest nature if you get a special attack boost from nasty plot? Timid is better.

This guy is a staple on my team. Disguise him as Gengar and use him as Psychic/Dark bait. His Flamethrower matches Gengar's, so it maintains the Illusion. Flamethrower is great for catching Ferrothorns by surprise! Substitute keeps the Illusion up even longer. Another idea is to disguise him as Blaziken, and lure a Psychic attack (or Rooshoobin [spelling fail]). Life Orb lets him KO easily with Focus Blast dealing with Tyranitar and Steels, while Night Burst is STAB.

Quote of the moment:

Originally Posted by Silverwindstudios

Theoretically, In order for garchomps and pidgeots to fly at the speed of sound, (Let's include sonic the hedgehog into this to...) they need to consume over 5 1/2 MILLION calories a day!

This guy is a staple on my team. Disguise him as Gengar and use him as Psychic/Dark bait. His Flamethrower matches Gengar's, so it maintains the Illusion. Flamethrower is great for catching Ferrothorns by surprise! Substitute keeps the Illusion up even longer. Another idea is to disguise him as Blaziken, and lure a Psychic attack (or Rooshoobin [spelling fail]). Life Orb lets him KO easily with Focus Blast dealing with Tyranitar and Steels, while Night Burst is STAB.

I feel the need to mention that Focus Blast should not be slashed, ever on special sets as it is Zoroark's only decent option against Tyranitar on the specially based sets. Continuing, they all want max speed to as to outspeed base 100s, and it's worth mentioning that team preview can mess up Zoroark a ton.

Anyways, the NP set should look like this, not the ones posted earlier:

Nasty Plot is easy to set up provided you can come in disguised as something that will force the opponent out with relative ease, making Zoroark a perfect user of the move. Dark Pulse or Night Burst is up to the person using Zoroark, but it should be mentioned that Night Burst will immediately give away the fact that it is a Zoroark, whereas Dark Pulse will not. Focus Blast rounds off for excellent type coverage when paired with a Dark attack, and most importantly hits Tyranitar. The final slot is essentially just a filler, with Flamethrower hitting Nattorei and Breloom, Grass Knot damaging bulky waters other than Rotom-W pretty heavily, and Extrasensory hitting Roobushin switch ins.

The SD set has a bit of surprise value, and can come in disguised as something like Kobalon or Landlos pretty easily, which is massively helpful in setting up. Sucker Punch versus Night Slash on the first attacking slot is basically personal choice, but Sucker Punch is often better, hitting Latias, Gengar, and Latios, all of whom outspeed you. Flamethrower is the single best option in the next slot, for hitting Nattorei and Breloom, who both sort of wall the set, and the final slot is essentially just a filler, with Ankle sweep hitting Nattorei and steels for a bit of damage, U-Turn being a solid scouting move for midgame, and Night Slash being a secondary option if not used in the primary attacking slot.

Partners

Decided to add this after I saw the post where someone listed Weezing as a partner. =/

Partners for Zoroark should never be stuff that take different amounts of hazard damage than he does. That means pairing him up with, say, Gengar to "lure Psychic moves" is rather stupid, as Zoroark cannot effectively disguise himself as Gengar due to them receiving different amounts of hazard damage (Zoroark is hit by Spikes). Something like Scizor though, for example, would be a solid partner, though it doesn't quite lure the perfect moves for Zoroark, it can let Zoroark beat a switch in come to take an +2 Bullet Punch and facing a +2 Sucker Punch or +2 Dark Pulse.

The fact that Zoroark can be hit by Spikes while Gengar cannot is mitigated by the fact that their typing has perfect synergy. There are also multiple ways around that problem. First and foremost, you can rapid spin. If that isn't an option, you can always bring Zoroark in before the spikes go up. An added bonus to that, is that the most common spikers (Forretress, Ferrothorn, Deoxys) can be easily dispatched by Flamethrower and Dark Pulse/Night Burst.

The fact that Zoroark can be hit by Spikes while Gengar cannot is mitigated by the fact that their typing has perfect synergy. There are also multiple ways around that problem. First and foremost, you can rapid spin. If that isn't an option, you can always bring Zoroark in before the spikes go up. An added bonus to that, is that the most common spikers (Forretress, Ferrothorn, Deoxys) can be easily dispatched by Flamethrower and Dark Pulse/Night Burst.

That is like saying Moltres is perfect for OU because you can Rapid Spin SR away, when it reality there are these nifty little things got spin blockers, i.e. Burungeru or whatever the Water/Ghost is called, that block Rapid Spin cold and stop your strategy, so the spikes difference is actually relevant.

I would like to mention that Zoroark loves support from U-Turn pokes like Scizor (who can revenge whatever kills Zoroark) and Azelf (who can set up SR) since he can get in unscathed and with an intact Illusion. Second, passive damage WILL NOT break the Illusion. Third, Zoroark can check Choice Latios, he can come in using U-Turn or after something has fainted and pose as a Blissey/Chansey. Instinctively, Latios will go for Psycho Shock, which Zoroark is immune to, netting you 2 turns of set-up.

On Blissey in particular, Zoroark posing as a Blissey can give your foes headaches, Psycho Shock (used to check Blissey) does not affect Zororark, and Natural Cure means your opponent wont be suprised if the Blissey that they Toxic'ed is back with no status. Also of note, Blisseys are known to carry Flamethrower (to hit Scizor and Nattorei) so it's easier to maintain the Illusion if your are using it, and your opponent will pay the price if the Fox has Choice Specs.

Basically this set is to phaze or support the team. Most special sweepers are Psychic/Ghost types such as Azelf, etc. Bark Out exists to reduce its special attack and most likeliy to switch, and if you're lucky you can U-Turn and switch into the good pokemon who can deal damage. HP Ground for clear body users like Shell Smash Torkoal or Special Registeel. The last slot is for support/additional attack. Blackglasses is to make Bark Out less wierd

Zoro isn't very good long term because once his disguise is ruined your opponent will be constantly wary of your switch ins. But he is very good at removing a key wall early game. This is something you should capitalize on. I only run Zoro on extremely offensive teams.

**Good disguises
- Swampert, Scizor, Metagross, Lucario, Terakion, Heatran, Doryuuzu, Gengar, Machamp, Suicune etc. Anything that will tempt a defensive lead to stay in and attack / set up Spikes only to get OHKOed. Dark Pulse is a superior option over Night Burst as Dark Pulse flinches more than NB makes misses.

Don't expect to stay hidden long with this set. All you have to do is use your cover to get a single hit on a target wall. Pretend you are a lead Metagross and you may kill a lead Nattorei or Swampert leaving the opposing team very weak to Agiligross. Blow away that Gliscor or Skarmory and nothing will stop Doryuuzu. Zoroark does ok against most offensive leads but not great.

Keep in mind Zorro takes hits about as well as Swellow. Looking at Lucario and Infernapes as tanks is a bad place to be defensively, and Zorro's Mach Punch weakness and somewhat low 105 base speed means he will NEVER pull off a successful Nasty Plot sweep.

You can also try a mixed set with U-turn but if you can't get that crucial early game kill then you're basically using an inferior Azelf or Gengar.

I guess something people should keep in mind is that as mind-gamey as Illusion is, don't endeavour to be keeping it up more than a single turn; Night Burst v. Dark Pulse boils down to preference I suppose, I usually go with the former. I think the goal with Zoroark is to pull out a counter and immediately get rid of it. That seems to be a priority; if you've got spare HP left over, continue attempting a sweep or switch out for later use with Illusion.